Barely a fortnight before the Assembly poll, campaigning is yet to gather steam in Delhi with both the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party keeping it down. On Sunday, there were no major public events by heavyweights from both the parties.

While the usual poll frenzy is missing, party insiders from both AAP and the BJP told The Hindu that it’s part of the strategy to ensure that their campaign does not peak early compared to the other.

New campaigns

An AAP insider said the party has come to know that the BJP will intensify its campaign from January 26, and AAP is waiting to launch a few new campaigns and the party’s manifesto around that time.

“During the last 10 days of the 2020 Assembly election, the BJP went ahead with a flurry of events and rallies, and it [BJP] managed to hold more events as our campaign had peaked early. We don’t want that to happen again this time,” the source said.

‘More interactive drive’

Talking about AAP’s campaign in the upcoming days, the source said, “The party will launch a door-to-door campaign, which will be more interactive with the voters than before. Over 250 autorickshaws with LED screens will ply showing a 20-minute film on AAP’s governance, and town halls with TV channels will be held.”

“Kejriwalji will wrap up his personal campaigning in the next two to three days, and there will be a blitzkrieg of rallies in around 45 to 50 Assembly constituencies in the coming 15 days. He [Mr. Kejriwal] will cover over three Assembly constituencies each day,” he said.

AAP is also focusing on hyperlocal meetings this time to help people absorb the message of welfare schemes that people have been receiving under the AAP government.

“This election has been fought very differently by AAP compared to the 2020 Assembly election. We have done about 15,000 meetings in which a woman worker holds a meeting with a group of women. We also did about 30,000 meetings on revdi pe charcha [discussion on the freebies]. The announcement of ₹2,100 per month to women has also played in our favour,” the source said.

Big-ticket rallies

A BJP leader said the party will get into campaign mode from Monday and streamline canvassing. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and others are expected to hit the streets of Delhi after Republic Day. The big-ticket rallies will be held in the last eight days of campaigning,” he said.

Sources from both parties told The Hindu that it was part of their strategy to ensure that their campaign did not peak early.

On Sunday, just a fortnight away from the Delhi election, there was no major public event by heavyweights from both parties.

A source said the party has learnt that the BJP campaign will accelerate after January 26 and AAP will launch a new campaign then. The source added that AAP’s manifesto will be announced in the next two to three days.

“During the last 10 days of the 2020 Assembly election, the BJP went ahead with a flurry of events and rallies, and it [BJP] managed to hold more events as our campaign had peaked earlier. We don’t want that to happen again this time,” the source said.

Over the AAP’s campaign in the upcoming days, the source said, “The party will launch a door-to-door campaign, which will be more interactive with the voters than before. Over 250 rickshaws with LED screens will ply showing a 20-minute film of what changed in Delhi in the last 10 years, and town halls with TV channels will be held.”

“Kejriwal ji will wrap up his personal campaigning in the next two to three days, and there will be a blitzkrieg of rallies in around 45 to 50 Assembly constituencies in the coming 15 days. He [Mr. Kejriwal] will cover over three Assemblies each day,” he said.

Micromanagement

AAP is also focusing on smaller hyperlocal meetings this time to help people absorb the message of welfare schemes that people have been receiving under the AAP government.

“This election has been fought very differently by AAP compared to the 2020 Assembly election. We have done about 15,000 meetings in which a woman worker holds a meeting with a group of women. We also did about 30,000 meetings on revdi pe charcha (discussion on the freebies). The announcement of Rs. 2,100 per month to women has also played in our favour and the response is very positive,” the source said.

Meanwhile, a BJP leader said the party will get into election campaign mode from Monday and streamline the campaigning. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and others are expected to hit the streets of Delhi after the Republic Day. The big ticket rallies will happen in the last eight days of the campaigning,” the leader said.

The last day of campaigning is February 3.